Franken has said that he chose to make the book's title an ad hominem attack as "an ironic comment on the fact that Rush makes ad hominem attacks all the time".[2] Franken cited, for example, Limbaugh's attack on Chelsea Clinton, whom Limbaugh had described as "the White House dog".[2] Franken said his motivation for writing the book was the rise of Newt Gingrich, who used Limbaugh as "his mouthpiece".[3]